How
do you keep up and stand out in an ever-changing job like sales? Whether you’re
an industry veteran or a rookie fresh out of college, it’s important to create
a personal brand that will position you as a cut above the rest in the
modern-day salesforce. From professionalism and personality, to style and
voice, there’s much to consider when it comes to properly branding yourself.
The good news is, we are covering it all with these tips below!

Personal branding tips:

Professionalism
is a must for any reputable and successful salesperson, especially if you’re
transitioning from the role of a college student to a young professional. To
send the message that you take your career seriously, and with pride, it’s
equally as important to look the part as it is to act the part. Looking
professional on the outside will help you feel confident and ready to take on
anything sales may throw at you.

Start
by revamping your wardrobe and style. If you’re a young professional, there’s
no better time to get new, career-savvy clothes that fit the persona you want
your personal brand to convey. A guaranteed way to look more professional is to
own well-fitted clothing. Clothing that is baggy or long can appear sloppy and
careless, so buy suits, dresses, or blazers that provide the perfect fit.
Invest in custom tailor pieces that elevate your look beyond
ready-to-wear clothes. This way, you can choose styles and colors that show off
your personality while still looking professional. Nowadays you don’t even have
to leave your house to get tailored. Places like iTailor make the process easy
and stress-free right from your computer.

Then, be sure that your hairstyle matches your look for your new career. Your hair should always be brushed, tangle-free and neatly styled. If you have long hair, you might consider keeping it pulled back and out of your face for a clean look. For men specifically, it’s best to keep a clean-shaven face or a well-groomed beard ahead of an interview or your first day on the job. To achieve this look, always use a new razor blade and high-quality products to avoid any noticeable irritation or cuts that can cause a distraction from the rest of your professional look. Speaking of online ease, all of your necessities can be found in one place at Harry’s. You can order as often as you please or sign up for a subscription that guarantees delivery at a predetermined timeline that works for you.

Remember,
it’s a good practice to dress for the job you want. Once you’re settled into
your job, you may need to adjust your look slightly to fit with your fellow
salespeople and company dress code standards. However, you can take it a step
further by looking to those you admire at work and mimicking their dress, like
adding a nice watch or wearing a tie every day. Contrarily, you may be able to
alter your style with a more personalized touch like showing off your tattoos
or having a longer beard, once you know what looks are appropriate at your
company.

When
you look good on the outside, you’re bound to feel good on the inside and to be
successful in sales, it’s crucial to be friendly and outgoing, which is easier
when you feel confident.

Authentically living your
company’s brand:

When
you start your position as a salesperson, it’s vital to start taking your
company’s brand into consideration. You’ve mastered revamping your personal
brand but embracing the brand you’re working for is just as important when it
comes to selling. When engaging with others via email or talking over the
phone, be sure to match your company’s tone, voice, and style, while still adding
your personal flair.

To
help you do this, first familiarize yourself with your company’s brand by
heading to their blog and following their social media accounts. There is
valuable information on exactly what your company does and how they do it right
at your fingertips! Plus, the coworkers that are creating content on the blog
know all about the proper voice for selling your company to the outside world,
so it will be easy to mimic that when you see it in front of you. The more you
know about your company, the better you will be at selling it to others because
you can build more trust by knowing the ins and outs of what your company does
every day.

You
can display this knowledge internally and externally to show that you truly
care about who you work for; you should take pride in showing off your
employer’s brand just as much as your own! Remember, it’s never too late to
start doing this. Even if you have worked with a company for years, there is
always growth and change happening, so don’t be afraid to branch out at work,
get to know others and expand what you think you know about your employer.

How to keep your brand up-to-date:

If
you want to be the best salesperson you can be then it’s about being able to be
flexible with the constant change of the salesforce. Don’t be afraid to rebrand
yourself if needed with the tips above, especially if your company is going
through a rebrand as well. But no matter what the circumstances are, there are
also some ever-green tips to keep in mind when it comes to being a great
salesperson.

A
lot of modern-day sales is done online and over the phone, so being personable,
human, and sincere via the tech tools you may be required to use on the job
isn’t an easy task, so showing off these skills is key in a sales position.
Plus, being friendly and personable will never go out of style! Keeping an
ongoing dialogue and friendship with your customers will only help keep the
relationship strong and help retain them as clients. Let your client know that
they are heard by actively listening to them and answering their questions to
the best of your ability; don’t ever write a client off or act too robotic. In
turn, don’t be afraid to ask questions! Dig deeper into their needs from you
and your company because the more you nurture your relationships with clients,
the easier it is to set yourself up for an up-sell or use current customers to
attract new ones. Referrals to new clients become natural and effortless when
you have a relationship of good stature with your customers. No matter the
changes that your company or team is going through, keeping your brand,
personality, and knowledge at the forefront of your work can help you succeed
as a salesperson.

As
time goes on, the hardest thing about sales can be keeping your personal brand
up-to-date. This can be anything from your style, and language, to utilizing
your company to gain knowledge. Using your employer and coworkers to live your
company’s brand will always help you sell successfully. From the online blog to
sales analytics, the more knowledge you can gain to become an expert in the
sales field will only ever help your career. Being in sales, you are the first
look into your company from the outside, so being confident in yourself and
aware of your company’s brand are two small things that will always help you
stand out.

Remember, sales is a market thats always changing so it can be difficult to brand yourself to stand out. With these tips on how to establish your personal brand and live your company’s brand, you are sure to keep-up with the salesforce regardless if you’re a seasoned salesperson or new on the market. To further your knowledge on sales, check out the Sales Classes on our blog for more in-depth tips on how to be a great employee!

What Does it Mean to be a Rainmaker?

In sales, a rainmaker is somebody who brings in an abundance of income into the business. Rainmakers are A-Players that perform above any expectations placed on them by the company, and in many cases themselves. Becoming a rainmaker is nothing magical, it simply requires a clear and diligent focus on the task at hand.

The first step to becoming a rainmaker is asking the question, “How do I become a rainmaker?” Top performers in sales are constantly asking the right questions. Asking the right questions leads to getting the right answers, which is absolutely necessary to become successful.

Most rainmakers have a range of skills and abilities used to understand and form alliances, as well as challenge and push for the right outcomes to create success. Those who can make this happen are not only top performers in sales, but they quickly climb the career ladder.

The Winning Mindset

Many people think becoming successful has to do with where you are born and how privileged your childhood was. It’s a way of shrugging off their own opportunity to achieve the heights of economic success.

Anybody with the right mindset can become a rainmaker, never forget that.

Speak to people like the valuable interesting human beings they are. Often in sales people are just looking for the next client. They can only see people as wallets with feet. This is the exact wrong way to become successful. Treat people with respect and love, make connections without having the expectation of getting paid. This is why it’s very important to focus on areas that you are actually interested in.

Working in a sector you enjoy will make all the difference. Work will become a labor of love instead of a service to a soulless taskmaster.

The Skillset

To be successful in sales you need to have an understanding of these 4 fundamental skills:

Listening

Expertise

Asking The Right Question

Control

The emphasis today on personal and professional development has never been higher. There is so much free content out there that you would be foolish to ignore.

During your day while your commuting, working out, or walking your dog, you can be listening to valuable content in audio form. There are thousands of hours of books, lectures, and discussions about sales and how to rise to the top.

If you have time to read, check out these essential sales books for building a rock solid foundation in your career.

Listening

Sometimes we simply forget to listen. We are so busy trying to figure out the best way to respond to an objection that we don’t hear the individual’s actual problems. Most people will be happy to pay you if you can solve their problem, but what exactly is their problem? Locate what’s causing them the pain in their life and do your best to help. If you can’t, simply refer them to somebody who can. Use that as a stepping stone to build a network with other people in your industry who provide services you don’t.

Become An Expert

Again this is why it’s important to love your area of sales. It will be a painful journey to become an expert in something you don’t care about. Also, people in need will be coming to you for help, if you sell them your product or service, and it’s not the right fit, then you just caused even more problems for the individual.

Actually helping someone requires skill, knowledge, and experience. If you feel you lack any one of those 3 factors, do whatever you can to build on them as soon as you possibly can.

Questions

Asking the right question is the only way to truly know what your client, or potential client, really needs. Preparing some thoughts before a call can help, but you never know what somebody will actually say.

Keep an open mind, relax, and remember what you have to offer. That is the best way to allow the right questions to surface while you’re in an important conversation.

Control

Maintaining control during a conversation is incredibly important. This should come easily if you are truly an expert in your field. No client should be able to tell you how to do your job better than you’re already doing it, even though they may try. Once you lost control of the conversation the client will no longer see you as an expert and it will be harder to convince them that your service is right for them.

Conclusion

Maintain a high degree of skill and understanding in your field will instantly attract clients. The good news is that most people won’t bother putting in the hard work that will get you to the top. If you really want to blow away your competition in sales, simply follow the basic advice above, and don’t stop working so you can confidently call yourself a rainmaker!

The importance of personal branding for career development is more vital now than ever for career salespeople thinking long-term. Your online reputation is now your resume and the key to future career growth.

Having a personal brand gives you tremendous leverage when it comes to landing great career opportunities. For example, you might lack the job experience requirements for a role you really want, but having a strong personal brand may be able to compensate for that.

5-10 years ago, finding a new job worked heavily in the employers’ favor. Fast-forward 5-10 years later and digital transformation has shifted the advantage to the candidate. The MRI Network stated:

“86% of recruiters and 62% of employers felt the 2016 labor market was candidate-driven.”

Take a look at Tim Ferrisor Gary Vaynerchuk as some key self-branding examples. Of course, they are at the extreme end of the spectrum, but they are the poster children for what you can achieve building a personal brand at scale.

Before diving into actionable personal branding techniques for job seekers (especially those in sales), it’s important to point out a hard reality. It isn’t going to be easy.

Building a personal brand is going to be a huge time commitment and will show little return in the short-term, but the long-term gains for the future of your career are limitless if you put in the blood, sweat, and tears in the beginning.

To get started you need to start asking yourself the questions below and write them down inside a google doc sheet or piece of paper.

Answer these questions to help you build out your personal branding roadmap in 2018:

What is your “value” differentiator?

Who is your target audience?

What channels does your target audience live?

What outcome are you trying to achieve short-term?

What outcome are you trying to achieve long-term?

What is your motive for building a personal brand?

What keywords do you want to be found for?

What is your content strategy?

What KPIs are you going to commit to (daily/weekly)?

1 – What Is Your Value Differentiator?

The importance of personal branding for career development all starts with understanding your “value” differentiator.

This will sound like a daunting task in the beginning. The easiest way to understand this is by understanding your strengths and weaknesses.

What makes you standout amongst the noise as a candidate every employer would want to hire?

What makes you the expert in your field?

This is the key to getting started with your personal branding plan.

Determine Your Strengths/Weaknesses:

Take out a piece of paper and start writing down your strengths on one side of the page and weaknesses on the other. What wisdom do you have in your field that others don’t? Where do you lack wisdom?

If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to reach out to your co-workers and managers from your past and current jobs.

Really challenge yourself to understand your weaknesses because these will show you areas that need improvement.

You should consistently thrive to optimize your value differentiator.

2 – Who Is Your Target Audience?

To capture the right employer’s attention, it’s imperative that you understand your personal brand target persona. This is comparable to understanding personas in sales and marketing.

Make a list of all the influencers, employers, or decision makers you are trying to start conversation with or get attention from. This should help you build out your target audience.

Industry: Thinking long-term about your career what industry do you want to work in for the rest of your career? Narrow this down to your niche as much as possible.

Seniority Level: Do you speak to executives, mid-management, or practitioners?

Job Function: Do you speak to marketing, sales, IT, or accounting?

Industry Influencers: Who are the experts in your field?

3 – Which Channels Actually Matter To Your Target Audience?

This part should be easy. The importance of personal branding for career development starts with not only understanding who your audience is, but even more important, is where do they live?

For B2B professionals, you may be looking for thought leadership opportunities such as speaking at a conference.

This exercise might also help steer you AWAY from building a personal brand (and that’s okay).

Ask yourself these questions:

Why am I building a personal brand?

Who is going to benefit from my personal brand?

Am I doing this to give more than I receive (or vice versa)?

Will I be focused on building strong relationships?

If the answer to these questions seem to be more “me” focused than “we” focused, it might not be worth making the commitment.

7 – Which Keywords Do You Want To “Rank” For ?

Understanding keywords that you want to be found for will help drive the long-term success of your personal brand. Keywords play a major role when setting up and optimizing your social profiles (or website) to be found by employers in the short-term and long-term.

Using the “skills” section inside your LinkedIn profile will help you determine which industry keywords employer’s and recruiters search the most. This should be a pretty simple process, but you can also search industry hashtags using hastagify.me to get more granular in your search.

8 – What Is Your Content Strategy?

Want a little known secret to building your personal brand, FAST?

Content. Simple as that.

Content is the key driver when building a personal branding plan that captures attention at scale. The key here is to be super strategic with the content you curate, create, and share.

Focus on these two key areas:

Content Curation – Sharing other people’s content is vital (especially in the beginning) to driving more targeted connections, conversation, and attention. Who are the industry influencers in your space? Who are the key employers you are trying to get in touch with? Use their content to drive the conversation using a value vs ask approach.

Content Creation – Creating original content should be a priority. It’s the only way you will gain the reputation as the expert in your field. This should be a mix of video and blog content. Using LinkedIn publisher should be a key area of focus. This builds your credibility inside your profile and allows recruiters to understand your “value” differentiator. Eventually, building your own website will need to happen as well.

9 – Which KPIs Will You Commit To (daily/weekly/monthly)?

Consistency is the key to driving short-term and long-term success.

How many times a week are you going to curate content?

How many times a week are you going to create content?

How many times are you going to post on dedicated channels daily?

How many times will you engage daily? Weekly? Monthly?

Build out a posting strategy that holds you accountable and turns your activity into a habit. Using social publishing tools like Sprout Social, Buffer, or Hootsuite will help you automate the process to become more efficient.

NOTE: In the beginning, stay away from automation as much as possible. Really focus on the 1-1 conversation to build relationships that matter.

Putting Your Personal Branding Roadmap into Motion

This all might sound like its going to be a lot of work (and it will be), but start focusing on taking baby steps in the process.

After you start seeing short-term wins it will help you pick up momentum.

Think about the next 10-20 years of your career.

Visualize the opportunities that will come your way if you put in the time now, so you can reap the career rewards later!